Image of Betty Garrett

Betty Garrett

A sunny singer, dancer and comic actress, Betty Garrett starred in several Hollywood musicals and stage roles. She was at the top of her game when the Communist scare in the 1950s brought her career to a screeching, ugly halt. She and her husband Larry Parks, an Oscar-nominated actor, were summoned by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and questioned about their involvement. As the drama played out, a very pregnant Garrett was never called to testify, but her husband was. With his admission of Communist Party membership from 1941-1945 and refusal to name names, he made it to the Hollywood Blacklist. After the incident, Garrett and Parks worked up nightclub singing/comedy acts along with appearing in legit plays. Although Parks never quite shook off the blacklist incident, he did win a role in John Huston's film, Freud (1962). Garrett went on to appear in roles in many television series.


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Born:
May 23, 1919 In St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Movie/TV Credits:
21
First Appeared:
In the movie Big City 1948-03-25
Latest Project:
Movie Carol Channing: Larger Than Life 2012-01-20
Known For
Filmography
Movie Carol Channing: Larger Than Life Self 2012-01-20
Movie Dark and Stormy Night Mrs. Hausenstout 2009-10-10
Movie Trail of the Screaming Forehead Mrs. Cuttle 2007-06-08
Movie Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There Self 2003-04-03
Movie Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer Self 2002-09-24
Movie Frank Sinatra Memorial Self 2000-05-16
Movie Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman Self 1996-11-25
Movie That's Entertainment! III (archive footage) 1994-07-01
Movie That's Dancing! Ruth Sherwood (archive footage) 1985-01-18
Movie All the Way Home Catherine 1981-12-21
Series Laverne & Shirley 1976-01-27
Movie That's Entertainment! (archive footage) (uncredited) 1974-06-21
Movie Hollywood: The Dream Factory Self (archive footage) 1972-01-10
Movie The Shadow on the Window Linda Atlas 1957-03-06
Movie My Sister Eileen Ruth Sherwood 1955-09-22
Movie The Costume Designer Self (archive footage) 1950-07-13
Movie On the Town Brunhilde Esterhazy 1949-12-08
Movie Take Me Out to the Ball Game Shirley Delwyn 1949-03-09
Movie Neptune's Daughter Betty Barrett 1949-06-10
Movie Big City Shoo Shoo Grady 1948-03-25
Movie Words and Music Peggy Lorgan McNeil 1948-12-31